The Paralympian Newsletter of the International Paralympic Committee No. 1 / 2003 Mind Body Spirit HIGHLIGHTS New Levels Reached Paralympic Games/Athens at World Championships Page 3 Significant Progress Made in Preparations for 2004 Paralympics Paralympic Games/Torino Photo: Baumann (Ludwigsburg) Page 4 Torino 2006 Paralympic Games Logo Unveiled Sport News Brian McKeever, winner of five gold medals Chelsey Gotell (Canada), gold medallist in 100m Backstroke class S13 Page 5 Sport’s Profile: Nordic Skiing Swimming Athletics Part II The 7th IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Baiersbronn, More than 50 world records were broken and many personal From the Nations Germany (7 to 15 February) got off to a good start with 4,000 bests set at the 3rd IPC Swimming World Championships in spectators enjoyed the Opening Ceremony, in which Phil Craven, Mar del Plata,Argentina.A total of 574 participants from 53 IPC President, officially declared the World Championships open. nations took part in the competitions from 6 to 17 December Page 7 Chinese Taipei’s The specifically for these World Championships composed song 2002.Apart from the exciting competitions in the indoor pool, Success Story “Motion & Emotion” was also presented at the Opening Cere- a highlight was the first IPC Open Water World Championships, mony. which were carried out in the Atlantic Ocean. From the Regions Despite very cold temperatures (up to minus 17 degrees Celsius), The 600 helpful and friendly volunteers gave the World Champs more than 40,000 spectators visited the competitions, the daily a cheerful atmosphere.At the end of six days of tough compe- Page 9 Middle East Elected IPC side programme and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, set- titions, the final medal tally was Regional Representative ting new standards for future Nordic Skiing World Champion- topped by Great Britain with ships.The media coverage was also outstanding with the main 32 gold, 23 silver and 21 bronze Inside IPC domestic broadcasters present and, for example, 1,73 million medals. Canada was second with people watching the 10min long summary of highlights broad- 28 gold, 14 silver and 6 bronze, cast on Sunday afternoon with where as China secured third place main non-disabled sport events, with 21 gold, 5 silver and 10 bronze. eg, Ice Hockey, only being viewed The complete final medal tally by an audience of 0,95 to 1,55 can be found on the IPC website million persons. (www.paralympic.org).The Cham- pionships also included demon- A total of 97 competitors from stration events (non-medal events) 19 nations participated in the in the heat sessions for swimmers Photo: Baumann (Ludwigsburg) disciplines Biathlon and Cross- with an intellectual disability. Country. Brian McKeever (Canada) was named Best Male Athlete of “The performance level of the swimmers continues to improve all the World Championships the time, which the over 50 new world records prove.The volun- Page 12 Surprise Guest at IPC Verena Bentele (Germany) whereas the prize for the Best teers and the Organising Committee have been extremely enthu- New Year’s Reception: in action Female Athlete went to Anna siastic and have worked very hard to make these World Champion- Otto the Otter Burmistrova (Russia). Both prizes ships great ones,” said Anne Green, IPC Chairperson Swimming. were awarded by the German State Secretary Ute Vogt at the Closing Ceremony. McKeever won gold medals in all five of the Dora Pasztory (Hungary) was chosen as Female Swimmer of the events for visually impaired athletes in which he started: Biathlon Meet for her performance in the 200m Individual Medley class Long Distance, Biathlon Short Distance, Cross-Country Short SM8, with Sascha Kindred (Great Britain) receiving the title Male see page 2 see page 2 The Paralympian No. 1/ 2003 Editorial Nordic Skiing Distance, Cross-Country Middle Distance and the Cross- Country Long Distance. Burmistrova won three gold medals in the women’s Biathlon Short Distance Standing event, the Cross Country Middle Distance Standing event and the Cross Country Relay as well as two silver medals in the women’s standing events Biathlon Long Distance and Cross Country Short Distance. Rita van Driel, IPC Nordic Skiing Chairperson, said: IPC Focuses on “These championships showed us exciting races with close results, which is a real promotion for our Paralympic Development sports.This was the first big competition since the Salt On the way to the finish line Lake 2002 Paralympic Games where we used the three class system, which is based on a percentage system to With the motto of the World Championships “More than The World Championships of the last months have clearly recalculate the race times based on the different disability a World Championship” in mind, the friendly and helpful demonstrated that Paralympic athletes perform at the highest groups, for all events and it seems to be working well. 500 volunteers and the hardworking Organising Com- level. Impressive and sometimes even unbelievable world I hope it will inspire new athletes but also other sports mittee left their mark on many the of the competitors, record times were achieved at the IPC World Swimming to find a solution to reduce the number of events some of whom named these World Championships the Championships in December in Argentina.The participants of held for all different disability groups.” “best ever”. the 7th IPC World Nordic Skiing Championships in February 2003 had to give their all on an extremely challenging course and finished the races in remarkable times which were foun- ded on hard training, excellent body conditioning and sophi- sticated technique. Swimming Apart from these elite sporting events, the International Par- alympic Committee is increasingly focusing on sport deve- of 20 degrees Celsius. Of the 63 swimmers who started, lopment activities.This new centre of attention has to be 46 completed the course with the men’s event won seen twofold: first, sport development in a sense of develo- by Enrique Floriano from Spain in a time of 56min and ping sport opportunities for people with a disability on a 53sec and the women’s by Dianna Ley from Australia grass root level. It is important for us as the international in 1hr, 7min and 30sec. representative organisation of sport for people with a disabi- lity to cover all aspects of sport. “The organisers of the Open Water event did a marvellous job. I have been to a lot of races and this was definitely The Paralympic Games are clearly the pinnacle of this move- the best run,” said Dave Thomas, IPC Swimming Technical ment, but they could never exist in such a successful format Delegate for Open Water, as the last competitors had without a global basis of sport being performed on a recrea- crossed the finish line. tional level.The IPC is committed to support sport opportuni- ties for all people with a disability, as recreational athletes Boats with lifeguards as well as four jet skies were are an equitable target group of the IPC as are elite athletes. A participant of the Open Water Champs is rapped up in a blanket placed at several strategic places along the route. Blind swimmers had the possibility of being escorted in The fact that the number of applications for the IPC’s develop- a kayak. Furthermore, around 20 kayaks and ten rubber ment fund tripled in the last years shows the great demand Swimmer of the Meet for his performance in the 200m boats equipped with food, drink and blankets made sure for assistance regarding sport opportunities especially in less Individual Medley class SM6. that the event was a safe one. In an Open Water event, it developed countries. During the upcoming months, we will is not necessarily the best swimmer who wins, but the draft a development concept and will also hire a new staff On 16 December, the 5km Open Water event took swimmer with the best mind—underlining the Paralympic member specifically dedicated to this programme. place in the Atlantic Ocean with a water temperature motto: Mind Body Spirit. Secondly, sport has to be seen as a means to promote global development. I had the opportunity to attend a United Nati- ons Conference on Sport and Development in Switzerland in February, at which specific recommendations to the UN Secre- Testing at Swimming World Champs tary-General were detailed. Especially for people with a disa- bility, who are too often neglected in society, sport plays an Because of advances in portable technology as well as Several hundred tests where carried out in Argentina by important role in social, economic and personal development. the increased professionalism within governing sport the countries on their athletes requesting this service.As bodies, the scientific support provided for our athletes IPC Swimming is concerned with the health and welfare Another important aspect of human development is educati- is becoming more widely spread and is not only moving of all participants, a short protocol was introduced for on. In physical education classes, many children with a disa- from the lab into the training area but also to competi- the countries involved.This included aspects of athlete bility have their first active sport experience. Physical educa- tions.At the 2002 IPC Swimming World Championships consent, safety pro- tion is an important means of accessing other human rights in Mar del Plata,Argentina,Australia, Canada as well as cedures and predetermi- such as securing good health, liberty, security, economic Great Britain carried out systematic blood lactate testing ned locations for testing well-being, and participation in social and political activities. of their participants following individual events.The and waste disposal. results were used, for example, to assist the swimmers I truly believe that the IPC is on the right track when promo- following their race performance in determining their After reviewing the ting sport from grass root to elite levels.